Fuzors: One Plus One
by JammerLea
Summary: After almost a decade, Mach Storm is visited by someone from Hop's past... His wife! More drama ensues as the team tries to deal with this event. Chapter three is up. Gotta lighten things up next chapter. More to come...
1. Chapter 1

Foreword: It's been a long time since I've written a fanfic... at least two or three years. So coming back to this is kind of odd. I know I write somewhat decently, but I feel so... rusty and I'm not so great with descriptive work. Please forgive me if this is rough and choppy. I'm trying though!

As for Zoids Fuzors... it's such an odd chapter in the Zoids world. It's not as well developed as the other series... and was put together fairly poorly. However, I can't help but love it for its flaws and quirky characters. Fuzors needs some love. This fic is inspired by a random joke about everyone in Mach Storm being single. Onward to fanfic!

* * *

Minus Amy, everyone in Mach Storm was at their headquarters just relaxing. Hop was doing his usual number crunching, while the rest of the group was reading various sorts of literature, except for Matt who was playing a video game. It was a dull day... no battles, no jobs, and it was raining outside so no one wanted to even look for work. They were bored, but no one was complaining.

Without warning, or at least without a knock, the door opened. Everyone looked up to see a young boy, maybe 10 years of age, with dark green hair, and behind him a middle-aged woman with light brown hair, sporting a pair of glasses, and wearing a long, but simple tan colored dress. Both were soaking wet from the rain. While the general Mach Storm response was to stare in utter stupidity, the two eldest members, Helmut and Hop, dropped their jaws in shock.

"Um, excuse me..." Sweet stepped forward, speaking in her friendliest voice possible, "Can I get you both some towe..." Her sentence trailed off as she noticed neither person was listening to her. The boy just stared down at the floor, not looking at anyone. The woman stared hard across the room. Sweet and the rest of Mach Storm followed her gaze... straight to Hop.

"You-You came back..." Hop could barely sputter out the words.

"I need help." came the reply.

* * *

"...so, you ran out of money and decided to come back home." Hop sighed and shook his head, unphased by the answer. "Do you have any idea how long it's been?"

"Ten years." She replied, ignoring all the stares she was still receiving from Mach Storm. Sigma, RD and Matt whispered theories to each other of what this lady's story was.

"ELEVEN!" Hop spat in frustration. "Good God, woman, you've been gone ELEVEN YEARS."

RD finally mustered up some courage to interrupt. "Um, sorry, Hop. But who IS this person?" He looked over at Helmut as he heard a sudden cough.

"Seriously," Sigma added. "If this is as important as it sounds, shouldn't someone tell us what's going on?"

Hop looked around at his team, checking their confused expressions one-by-one. He finally sighed in defeat, and looked away with a dejected frown. "This is... Maybelle. She's... my wife."

"WHAT?!"

"No way. There's no way YOU actually got married, Hop." Sigma shrugged in disbelief. Helmut jabbed him with an elbow.

"I most certainly did." huffed Hop, taking a moment to clean his glasses, and actually feeling more at ease from the teasing.

"Well, that's good and all," RD added, "But who's the kid?"

"I don't know." Hop glared at Maybelle. "So, Maybelle, who is he?"

"He's my son." She glared back at him, as Hop reacted in surprise, "Don't look at me that way, you know he's not yours."

"Then who-"

"You know full well that he's Harris' son!" She snapped her head away, quite annoyed with all this talking.

"WHAT?!" This time it was just RD causing commotion. In a heartbeat he was on his feet and in Maybelle's face. "Harris?! You don't mean..." he paused as he was still soaking everything in.

"What is it, RD? What's wrong?" Matt looked up at his friend, rather confused.

"RD..." Sweet frowned in concern. She knew what was coming.

RD built up the energy he needed to finish his question. He pointed at the green haired kid sitting on the sofa beside her. "You don't mean... he's my BROTHER?!"

For the first time since they entered, the kid stopped staring at the floor, and now turned his gaze to the distraught RD.

Maybelle gave RD a good long look over, "So you're RD. You've gotten so big I didn't recognize you." She signed, then nodded. "You're correct. This is Skip, your little brother."

RD looked down at the kid, losing any possible reply he had. Finally he backed down and collapsed back into his spot beside Sigma, muttering, "I think I have a headache."

"Can't be as big as mine," Hop muttered to himself, slinking down further into his own chair.

* * *

RD made his way to the rooftop of the Mach Storm headquarters to find Hop leaning against the railing. "I thought I'd find you here."

The older man glanced back for a moment then turned his gaze back upon the stars. "Yes, well, it's not like there's any other quiet place to think here."

RD joined him in stargazing. "So, let me get this straight. When my dad left to find the Alpha Zoid when I was little he took YOUR wife with him? Why didn't anyone ever tell me about this?!"

"RD, you were five. You were having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that your father left in general." Hop sighed.

Leaning against the railing and resting his head on his hands, RD sighed in return. "It took me long enough to get over the fact that my dad just left me. Did he really leave to look for the Alpha Zoid, or did he just want to run off with some woman?"

"I really don't know," Hop frowned. "I just wish I knew why she left me." He rubbed his head, "And now to come back with some other man's son! Oh, what a way to add insult to injury."

RD patted Hop's shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Hop. Really, I am."

* * *

The next day, Matt was trying to coax Skip out of his shell. It had been a long time since he'd been around someone his own age. Getting Skip to open up was proving to be rather a challenge, however.

"Hey, Skip! Check out this new video game!" Matt showed off his little handheld game. "It's Zoids Legends! Isn't it cool??"

"I guess..." Skip glanced at it and then looked away.

Not losing any determination, Matt waved the game closer in front of Skip, "Would you like to play it? It's really fun!"

"No thanks."

Matt stared at the other boy, trying to rethink his strategy. "Wanna see Mach Storm's Zoids? They're really awesome!!"

"No..."

Growling a bit in frustration, Matt grabbed Skip's hand, "Come on! I wanna show you something!"

"What??" Skip was taken off guard, almost tripping as Matt dragged him to the door.

Sweet was just about to enter the room as the two boys burst out, about knocking her over. She stepped back in surprise. "Hey! Where are you going?!"

"It's a surprise!" Matt called back over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

"What was that about?" Walking down the hall, RD joined Sweet by the door.

"I don't know, but it makes me worry." Sweet frowned in concern.

"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them." RD headed in the direction of the two boys.

"Make sure they're back in time for dinner!"

* * *

Maybelle was out for the day, apparently catching up with an old friend. Hop was back at his computer trying to concentrate on work, while Helmut looked over some papers concerning the next job. Sigma browsed through the latest swimsuit edition of Zi Gals, and Sweet sat at her own computer browsing the internet for new dinner recipes.

"I still can't believe that Hop actually got married." Sigma randomly started talking to no one in particular.

"Put a sock in it, Sigma," snapped Helmut.

Hop tried to ignore it, unsuccessfully.

"Well, it's so obvious why she left him," Sigma went on. "It's always work, work, work with him! She probably wasn't getting any."

"Sigma!" Sweet gasped from her chair, eyes wide in shock.

"I'll have you know I've done it numerous times," Hop replied sharply. _Just not within the past eleven years._ "Which is more than can be said for you. All you've got are your dirty magazines."

"Hey! These are NOT dirty magazines!" Sigma said in defense. "This is LI-TER-A-TURE. There are ARTICLES, that you READ."

Helmut folded his arms, getting annoyed. "Knock it off already."

"Whatever you say!" Hop shrugged with a smirk, "It still stands that Sigma's never gotten anywhere with a girl."

"What??" Sigma stood up, gritting his teeth, "I could have my way with a girl if I wanted to!!" He paused, "I just haven't wanted to!"

"Boys, quit being dumb males." Sweet sighed, knowing they wouldn't listen to her. They never did.

"Of course, of course." Hop sneered some more, "I bet you a whole week's pay that you can't find a date by the end of the week."

"Yeah, well, you're on!!" Sigma waved a fist in the air. "I'll have a date before you know it! Just you see!" And with that, Sigma stormed out of the room.

"This is just going to bring us more trouble, you know." Helmut stated, unimpressed.

Hop started back on his work, "Well, that boy needs to learn some tact."

"I don't think I'm going to date anyone ever." Sweet muttered to herself. "Men are idiots."

* * *

Matt finally stopped running mid-way down an alley near a decent sized crate. On one side was a big building, the other side, where the crate was, was blocked off by a rather tall concrete barrier. He looked around to make sure there was no one else around besides Skip and himself, then he started pushing the crate to the side.

"What... are you doing...?" Skip was still trying to catch his breath. He wasn't used to running that much.

Matt grunted, finally shoving the crate over where he wanted it. He pulled back and wiped his brow. "Just trying to get to this!" He motioned at a hole in the wall where the cement had broken away, it was just large enough for someone their size to get through. "Come on! Follow me!" Matt started to crawl through the hole.

"What's on the other side...?"

"You'll see!"

As the two children disappeared through the hole, RD stepped out from behind a corner. "What are they doing?" He walked over and knelt down so he could see through the crevice in the wall. "Wait... this is..."

"And just what do we have here?"

RD stood back up and twirled around to see a security guard at the alley entrance. "Trying to sneak into Zi-Park, are you?" The guard scoffed at RD, "A little big to be trying that route, aren't you?"

"N-no! I..." stuttering for words, RD put his hands up in front of them to try to dismiss the accusation. "You've got it all wrong! I wasn't going to-"

"You weren't, were you?" Grabbing RD by his jacket collar, the guard dragged him out of the alley, "If you want into Zi-Park you're just gonna have to pay at the front gate like every other decent citizen."

Once inside Zi-Park, RD shook the rest of the contents out of his wallet, "Aw man. A few balls of pocket lint are NOT going to get me any food in this joint." He growled in frustration. "When I find those boys... Grr..." Taking a moment to look around, RD's anger dissolved as he realized just what sort of situation he was in. Zi-Park was Blue City's big amusement park. There were all sorts of games, rides, eateries, and other sorts of entertainment. It was also packed with people. Tourist season was in full swing. "...How am I going to find anyone in this place?"

"Well, hello!" A musical voice approached him from behind. "I didn't expect to see RD here!"

Surprised to recognize a familiar voice, RD spun around, this time in excitement. "Amy!! Boy, is it great to see yo-," he stopped, gawking a little. "What... what are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" She had on a red showgirl outfit, accented with sequins and feathers, complete with a big feather headdress. She puffed up the feathers on her headdress a bit, "I just decided to take a little job where I could show off some of my natural talent. It's cute right? It's for an old west themed show at the amphitheater in West Town! The kids love it!" She beamed happily.

"Yeah, I'm sure _the kids_ do." RD muttered, trying hard not to blush.

"So! Did you come to see me perform?" Amy winked at him, always laying on the charm.

"Um, no, unfortunately not. Actually," he thought for a moment. "Maybe you can help me! I'm looking for Matt. He snuck in here with a green haired kid." He took another look around, hoping that maybe he'd spot them.

"Sorry, but I haven't seen Matt at all." She frowned, "Who's the other kid? Does Matt have a new friend?"

"No, that's..." RD rubbed the back of his head nervously, "That's my little brother, Skip."

"What? Your brother?" Amy looked very confused.

"It's a long story, kind of."

A loud clock chime sounded across the park. Amy panicked a little, "Oh no! The show is starting! I'm sorry, RD, but I have to go." She started to run off, "If I see Matt, I'll give you a call, okay? See ya!"

RD frowned as she disappeared into the crowd. This was not going to be a good day for him.


	2. Chapter 2

Foreward: I believe I'm gonna set this in a post Fuzors timeline. So, sorry if you haven't seen all of Fuzors, but this is set after RD achieves his hero status from saving Blue City. This also means that Savage Hammer has defected. Sandra's back with Mach Storm. Just where are Blake and Luke though? I'm not sure yet!

To Digital Lidier, thanks for the kind review. It means a lot. And thanks to Schala and randomcat and various other friends, like Sammich and Tilly, who have supported and helped me with this! You're all awesome! Fuzors needs love!

* * *

Sigma walked the streets of Blue City thinking about the bet he had made with Hop. "What was I thinking? I've never asked a girl out before... I've always been too focused on Zoids." He stopped for a moment to look around, wondering where to start. Noticing a small ice cream shop on the other side of the street, he perked up a little. He thought he recognized one of the patrons sitting at a table outside. "Hey, is that that news girl, Tracy? Maybe..."

"Absolutely not!!" Tracy stuffed another spoon of ice cream in her mouth and ate angrily. "Is this a joke? Because it's not even funny."

Sigma sighed, "No, it's not a joke. I'll ask again. Would you like to go out on a date with me?" He knew he had sounded more confident the first time, but Tracy's angered reaction caught him off guard.

"I'm saying no. Definitely, absolutely not!" She put her spoon down and glared up at him. "You have some gall asking when it's quite obvious who I like." She smiled for a moment, daydreaming to herself, "The only one I'm interested in is RD... What a strong, handsome pilot." Sighing happily, she seemed to forget that Sigma was even there.

"Right then. Nevermind." Sigma turned away from her, shoulders sagging. Of course he'd have been foiled by RD again. It always works out that way. No matter how hard he'd try, RD would always come out ahead, stronger, better, more popular. He walked on further down the streets, frustrated. "Aghh!! I can't let him WIN!! I'll beat you soon, RD!"

* * *

RD sneezed and wiped his nose. He was trying to make sense of the Zi Park map, but couldn't quite get himself oriented. "Where am I??"

"You're in West Town!"

Turning around, RD's jaw dropped in surprise. "Dan?! What are you doing here??"

Dan blushed, holding onto a bouquet of flowers. He grinned widely, "I came to see Amy."

"Figures."

"She took off right after the show ended though, I haven't been able to find her." The older man sighed in disappointment, but shrugged it off. "Nevermind that. What are you doing here, RD? I didn't know you liked theme parks..." He paused and then narrowed his eyes, "Or did you come to see Amy too...?"

"N-no! It's not like that. You see, well..." RD took a deep breath, "To make a long story short, Hop's wife showed up the other day..."

"No way! Hop is married?!"

"...apparently. Anyway," RD continued, "it seems that she had followed my dad when he left. And well, she came back with her son, who's... my little brother." He glanced off to the side, still finding the whole situation to be rather surreal.

"Your brother?" Dan found this all very interesting and leaned back against a park bench, giving RD his full attention. "That's pretty weird."

"Tell me about it! Well, my brother, his name is Skip by the way, he and Matt ran out today and they snuck into this park. I'm trying to find them."

Dan gave him a curious look. "What does Skip look like?"

"Well, he's about Matt's height, and he has dark green hair. He seems pretty shy."

"Is that him?" Dan pointed behind RD at a line for a roller coaster.

"What?!" RD spun around, searching the crowd for the boys. "There they are!!" Without another word, he stormed off towards the line.

"Don't I even get a 'Thank you?'" Shrugging, Dan kicked off the park bench and resumed his search for Amy.

* * *

Continuing his slightly aimless wandering through the city, Sigma looked for more opportunities to find a date. He had run across Ciao earlier and asked her, but she just went on about waiting for some dumb Jean Holiday guy to get out of jail. He also detected a hint of resentment or jealousy from her partner Deed, so he figured it was best to walk away from that one.

"Maybe I should ask someone I don't know..." Searching the crowd, he spotted a young woman with red hair, puffy pigtails and some outlandish clothes. Quirking an eyebrow at her strange appearance, he shrugged it off and walked up to her. "Hey, babe!" He smiled coolly, "What's a sweet thing like you doing out here alone?"

Giving him a glance over, she turned up her nose. "I'm waiting for someone!"

"Aw, come on, no one should keep you waiting so long. How would you like to go out with one of the best pilots from Mach Storm?" Sigma wasn't going to give up easily.

"No. Get lost, buster." She turned her back to him, hands on her hips.

"Hey, Julia! I'm here!" A man with a big, purple pompadour ran up and gave her a hug. He pulled back in concern, "Julia? What's the matter??"

Still keeping her nose in the air, she motioned to Sigma, "This man was trying to hit on me, Mikey!"

"Was he now?" Mikey glared over at Sigma. "I won't let anyone get away with hitting on MY girl!"

Sigma froze in horror for a moment. _Crap! _He looked around in a panic. How was he to know the woman was taken?! "I-I'm s-so sorry!"

"You're going to be _really _sorry when I get done with you." Mikey pounded his fist into his palm.

"You're SO brave, Mikey!" Julia cooed from behind.

Sigma bolted.

* * *

"So THIS is where you are!" RD grabbed Matt and Skip by the back of their shirt collars. The two poor boys almost jumped out of their pants in fright.

"RD! What are you doing??" Matt pulled away, shocked at his friend's actions. He clung to Skip's arm. Skip said nothing.

"I could ask you the same thing!" Leaning in closer, RD lowered his voice. "I saw you both sneak in here!" He paused, "...you could have at least found a way to sneak me in too!"

Matt's shocked expression grew into a wide smile and he hugged his friend, "RD! I thought we were gonna be in trouble!"

"You will be if Sweet ever finds out about this, so let's keep it a secret," he winked at the two boys. He looked over at Skip who was still feeling pretty intimidated by the scare. "Aw, I'm sorry, Skip. I'm not mad, really!" RD smiled and patted his brother on the head. "We've got a couple hours before dinner time, so let's have some fun, okay??"

"Yeah!!" Matt could hardly contain himself. "Can we go on the roller coaster now?!"

"I wanna go on the roller coaster," Skip chimed in.

"Sure! Let's go!"

* * *

Back at the Mach Storm base, Hop was up on the roof again trying to clear his head. A lot was happening right now, and he wasn't sure if he could really handle it. Maybelle had just disappeared the day that RD's father left. She left a very vague note; it was enough for Hop to be able to pin her leaving with Harris. However, Hop was never able to locate them, and she never sent any word home. He had contacted her family about her disappearance, but they hadn't heard from her either AND they blamed Hop for her leaving. He never did figure out why.

Being that she was a missing person, there was no way for him to divorce her, plus at that time he really didn't want to. He was worried about her, and wanted to know what it was that had gone so wrong between them. It seemed that she didn't carry the same concerns that he had. Life went on...

Sighing heavily, Hop stared out over the city. What was he supposed to do now? His life at Mach Storm with these kids was what kept him going after Maybelle left. Sure, they ran him ragged sometimes, but he really enjoyed them and appreciated the escape and comfort. But if Maybelle was going to stay again...

"Hop."

Maybelle's hard voice grated against his thoughts. He looked over his shoulder and then sighed again, "What do you want now?"

She leered at him, frowning, "What kind of tone is that?!" Maybelle snorted, "I didn't come out here for you to use that tone of voice with me!"

Hop stood up straight and turned to her. "What DID you come out here for then? Why did you even come back here? Why did you LEAVE?"

"Why did I leave?!" She stared, as if she couldn't believe he had the nerve to ask the question. She fumed, "I left because...!!" She stopped, regaining her composure. Beginning again, she sounded more distant, "I left because... ...you're too boring."

"B-boring?!" Hop was shocked, "What do you mean 'boring?!'" He flung his arms up in disbelief. "That's such a lie and you know it!!"

Maybelle didn't look at him, but glared off to the side. "It's the truth. You're just an extremely dull man."

He clenched his fist in anger, "Lies. It's a lie!! I'll have you know that you are WRONG! And I'll prove it!" With that he quickly disappeared back into the building, leaving Maybelle outside with her own thoughts.

* * *

Ducking around a corner and down an alley, Sigma finally took a moment to relax and catch his breath. He felt lucky to be a pretty decent runner, he didn't want to know what would've happened if that Mikey guy caught him. It's not that Sigma couldn't fight, he just... really didn't want to. Getting a date wasn't worth that sort of trouble. "Man, what am I going to do?" He felt his heart rate slowing down to normal. "Well, it's just the first day, right? I still have a whole week."

"Is there a problem?"

Jumping a little, Sigma looked further down the alley to spy another young woman. _Hey, it's that chick from Vareth's gang. Saber, right? She's kind of cute. _He relaxed and smiled, "No, there's no problem at all. In fact," he was trying to turn on the charm again, "you're just the person I was looking for."

"I am?" Saber cocked her head to the side, thoroughly confused.

"Chyeah! How would you like to go out with me?"

"Out?" She still looked confused, "But I'm already outside."

"No, not like that!" Sigma tried to explain, "I mean, on a date!"

"Oh. Okay!" She smiled at him. "What's a date?"

Sigma rubbed his face with his hand. _What is with this chick?_

"Saber!" Dart, another member of Vareth's gang, materialized beside her, causing Sigma to jump again. "Vareth says we have to go home now. He's had enough of this Blue City."

"Aw, I was having fun too..." She pouted and looked back at Sigma. "Sorry, but we have to go! See ya!" With that, she and Dart disappeared into thin air.

"...the heck was that?" Sigma stared at the empty space where they had been. "Ah, well... That probably would've been a disaster anyways." He sighed in defeat. "I give up. That's enough for one day. I'm going home."

* * *

It was getting close to dinner time, so RD rounded up the kids to head home. They had had a blast and RD was rather enjoying this Big Brother thing. They really wanted to play some games, but unfortunately RD was out of money. He promised he'd win them something next time. Taking a shortcut past the food vendors, RD's eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh! Wow, _everyone_ is here today!"

Following RD's voice, Blake and Luke looked up at him. Luke had a big bag of cotton candy in his hand. Blake gave him a slight glare, "Buzz off, RD."

Matt seemed oblivious to Blake's irritation. "This is Blake, Skip!" He waved his arms excitedly. "He's a really good Zoid pilot! AND he's RD's rival!"

"Wow..." Skip stared up at Blake in awe. "You're my brother's rival? That's pretty cool."

"What?" Blake stared back down at the kid confused.

"It's a long story..." RD laughed nervously.

Eyeing Luke's cotton candy, Matt pouted some. "I want some cotton candy... Are you sure you don't have any money, RD?"

"I'm tellin' ya, Matt, they cleaned me out when I bought the ticket!"

"Typical." Blake scoffed. "Unprepared as always." RD growled at him in annoyance.

Luke laughed some and held the cotton candy bag down for Matt and Skip, "Here, you can have some of mine. I can't eat all of this."

"All right! Thanks, Luke!" Matt grabbed a handful of cotton candy and started munching away.

Skip also took a handful and smiled warmly at Luke, "Thanks, mister."

"You're welcome!" Luke stood back up and smiled at them. "You have a nice brother, RD."

"Uh, thanks." RD scratched his head. "Well, we need to get going. See you later!" Leading Matt and Skip on, RD waved at Blake and Luke and vanished into the crowd.

* * *

RD and the kids arrived back at Mach Storm just in time for dinner. "We're back!" RD called out cheerfully.

"Oh, good!" Sweet smiled at them, "I was afraid you wouldn't make it! Sigma just got back too!"

"Oh..." RD didn't really care about whatever Sigma had gone out to do. He watched as Skip and Matt ran over to Maybelle, excitedly talking about their day. _I sure hope Sweet doesn't hear them... _He looked around... Helmut and Sigma were busy watching the news on TV, Sweet seemed to be checking her e-mail. Something just seemed off... What was missing? "...Wait. Where's Hop??"

No one seemed to know.


	3. Chapter 3

Everyone at Mach Storm was about to start dinner when Sandra rushed in looking very panicked. "Quick! Turn the TV to the ZBC channel!!" She ran over to Helmut and hovered over him, too nervous to sit down. The room's focus turned to the TV as Helmut switched over to the Zoids Battle Channel. A Raynos and a Geno Saurer faced each other in the arena.

"_In moments the battle between Mach Storm and the maverick Rotten Roger will commence..."_

"What?!" Sweet gasped in disbelief, "But... we're not scheduled for any battles!"

"Do we even have a Raynos?" Sigma couldn't recall one.

"Actually, we do..." folding his arms, Helmut glared hard at the screen. "RD used it to train for our battle with the Matrix Dragon."

"Ohh, that's right." Sigma finally remembered RD's training, "But who's piloting it? Amy wouldn't fly in that thing and the rest of us are here."

"No, we're not." RD stared at the screen almost in horror, "Hop's not here..."

Sweet gasped again, "There's no way!"

"Does Hop have a battle license?" Matt asked, trying to keep up with everything.

Sigma looked down at him, "If he does, it probably expired years ago."

Skip clung to RD's coat, quite confused at everything, "What's going on? Is this bad?"

Amid everyones' panic, Maybelle just glared at the screen with resentment. "That idiot."

* * *

"I'm an idiot, aren't I?" Hop clung tightly to the Raynos controls. He hadn't expected to go up against a pilot like Rotten Roger of Battle Royal fame. It had been years since Hop had found himself in the cockpit of a Zoid. The Raynos was his, actually - a classic that he had held onto from his younger years, though it didn't get to see daylight often. He trembled, knowing this was a stupid idea, but Maybelle's excuse kept ringing in his ears. _Such a lie! I'm not boring! _He tried to regain his focus, or as much of it as he could. _I'll prove I'm not, and then I'll get the _real _reason why she left! Yes, Hop! You can do this! _The trembling stopped. He was ready for battle.

The battle begun, and Hop took to the sky. The Raynos shook a little as his piloting was rusty. Rotten Roger observed the other Zoid from his Geno Saurer. This wasn't the Mach Storm he was used to. It was rather... laughable.

"Is this the best Mach Storm has to offer?" Roger sneered. "This is insulting." He followed the Raynos and fired some shots from the Geno Saurer's twin mounted cannons. "This'll be easy."

"Oh, come off it." Banking slightly to avoid the fire, Hop kept his concentration on the Geno Saurer, "I may be rusty, but I'm not a pushover." He finally steadied the Zoid. Circling around, he dove in quick and returned fire.

Roger didn't move, and stared unbelieving at his opponent's attack. "You're not even close!"

"Blast it! My sights are way off!" Leaving the Zoid closed up in a hangar all the time hadn't been good for it. "Well, that's not any good. I must do something different..." He thought for a bit, "The Raynos' talons can do a good amount of damage if I can get in close enough. Time for a second pass!" He circled around again and then dove for the Geno Saurer.

Roger was waiting. "Let's see you dodge the CPC, birdy!" Setting the foot locks, the Geno Saurer charged up its Charged Particle Cannon.

* * *

Mach Storm was frozen to the TV. No one was able to move or speak. In the instant the Geno Saurer fired its CPC, the battle was over. The Raynos crashed, kicking up a cloud of dust from the arena floor.

"HOP!!"

Everyone scrambled for the door. They had to get to the arena and quick! Everyone that is, except for Maybelle.

* * *

The hospital room where Hop lay sleeping was packed with the members of Mach Storm. Even Dan and Amy were there after having watched the event on TV. Hop was going to be all right, but the rough landing left him with a concussion. His head was lightly bandaged.

"What was he thinking?" Amy sat next to him, showing genuine concern. "That was so reckless."

Dan pulled out his little handheld computer and scrolled through some files. "I did some research and found that Hop had been on a team when he was younger. He piloted that same Raynos."

"Really?" RD was rather interested in the information. "I wonder why he stopped piloting?"

"That's a mystery, actually." Dan continued, "He suddenly quit the team, but never said why. It was then that he went into the Academy to study accounting. And it was sometime after that that he joined up with Harris and Graham when they started Mach Storm."

"Why isn't he in any of the old Mach Storm photos then?"

Sandra laughed softly, "Because they always made him take the photos."

"He doesn't like getting his picture taken either," added Helmut. He sighed. "Now we have to clear up this mess with Peace Keeping Bureau. They aren't too happy that he snuck into battle without a license."

"Poor Hop..." Sweet frowned. She sat near Matt and Skip. "Just what was he trying to prove?"

The door to the room slid open and all eyes focused on it.

"He was trying to prove that he's not boring. He's just an idiot." Maybelle walked in, looking very cross. "Come on, Skip, let's go. You don't need to be here."

"But Mama..."

"This is your fault, isn't it?!" RD glared at the older woman, and she glared back at him. "Hop would never have done this before! He'd never take such a risk!"

"I have to agree with RD." Leaning against a wall, Sigma finally decided to speak up. "This was totally out of Hop's character. I don't know what you did to push him into doing this, but I'm sure it was wrong."

"Sigma! Don't be rude!" Sweet pleaded with him, though she more didn't want the kids to hear the argument.

"Don't be rude?!" Sigma glanced at Sweet for a moment, then turned his glare over to Maybelle, "I'm not the one who walked into a hospital room _full _of Hop's friends only to call him an '_idiot.' _You tell me who's rude!" If Maybelle's glare at RD had been a death glare, the one she was giving Sigma would've put him six feet under and then some. It made him shiver.

"Enough." Helmut said. "There are children here and they don't need to listen to this."

There was a groan and everyone quickly dropped the argument to turn their attention towards Hop. "Can you please keep it down? I've got one heck of a headache."

"Hop!" Amy smiled and took his hand, "How are you feeling??"

"Very, very sore. I..." regaining more of his senses, he noticed Maybelle in the room. "You... Are you finally going to tell me why?"

"...I don't know what you're talking about." Maybelle huffed. "I just came to pick up my son. We're going now, Skip." Without giving the boy any time to protest, she pulled him out of the room.

* * *

Things were quiet at Mach Storm the next day. The hospital decided to keep Hop overnight and he was due for questioning by the PKB. Sigma relaxed on a sofa skimming through one of his magazines. He was trying to keep his mind off of everything, especially that hate-filled look that Maybelle had given him at the hospital. Unfortunately the magazine wasn't helping much. He was happy though that Maybelle had gone out for the day again.

"Are you ready?" RD's voice finally registered with Sigma and he peered over his shoulder to see what was going on. Sweet was with him as well at Matt and Skip.

"Yeah, we're totally ready!" Matt grinned happily, "I'm so excited!"

"Me too!" Skip was finally starting to open up more. "I've never been to a Zoids museum before!"

"Well, we better get going." Sweet nudged them all to the door, "It'll take a little while to get there."

"Hey, Sweet," Sigma called out as RD and the two boys went out the door. "You're going to the Zoid Museum? Can I come too?"

Sweet frowned, "Sorry, but this is just for RD and the boys and me! It's not everyday I get to spend some good time alone with RD." She still wasn't happy with Sigma for yesterday. "Maybe next time." She turned and headed out the door to catch up with RD.

Sigma sighed. He looked up again to see Helmut walking by. "Where are you going, big guy?"

"Out. I have... a date with Sandra. And then we're going to take Hop over to the PKB."

"Oh, okay. Have fun then." Sigma watched as Helmut left, then looked back at his magazine. "...aghh. It's way too quiet here!" He tossed the magazine on the table. "Sure, just leave old Sigma by himself. He doesn't mind!" He stood up and headed for the door. "I need some fresh air."

* * *

Helmut and Sandra met at a quiet little restaurant down the street from the hospital. It had been a while since they had gotten to do anything together, though this wasn't quite under the circumstances they would've preferred. They had a lot to discuss.

Sandra stirred some sugar into her ice tea and went over everything in her head. "I can't believe that Hop's wife actually came back. That's some nerve she has after what she put Hop through."

Helmut took a sip of his drink and nodded, "I definitely think she's hiding something. Hop said she claimed to have left him because he was boring, but that can't be right."

"Oh, it's definitely a lie." Sandra smirked, "That excuse is so lame anyone can see through it."

"I'm just worried about what this is doing to the team." Helmut frowned. "Hop may not be a pilot, but he's one of the most reliable members of Mach Storm. Plus she's just using us right now to live off of us. We need to get her out of there."

"I'm sure she'll be leaving soon. I do worry about that kid of hers though. For a boy his age, he's way too quiet. She must be one intimidating mother."

Helmut nodded again, "I worry about him too. Especially now that he seems to be growing on RD..."

* * *

RD and Sweet followed behind Matt and Skip as they wandered through the Zoid Museum. It was big and had many displays that showed various models, armor and weapons. There were time lines, dioramas, old pilot gear and even some exhibits on wild Zoids. The boys were amazed, and so were RD and Sweet to an extent.

"They're going to leave soon, aren't they?" RD stopped for a moment, wearing a somber look upon his face.

Sweet frowned, "RD, I'm sure everything will be all right..."

RD shook his head, "How can it be? There's no way Hop and Maybelle are getting back together." He sighed, "I finally got some family back in my life. I don't want to see him taken away. None of this is his fault."

"I know..." Sighing as well, Sweet smiled softly at him, "Don't worry, things will work out for the best. And though it may not be through blood relation, you do have family with us, RD. We'll help you through this."

RD smiled back at her. "Thanks Sweet."

* * *

Sigma strolled down the sidewalk lost in thought. Ever since Sandra rejoined Mach Storm he always ended up being sort of the odd one out. It would just be him and Hop at the base if they didn't have any jobs going. It was getting to be a bit much. He stared up at the sky, wondering what would happen with all the drama...

...and bumped right into another pedestrian!

Caught off guard, they both fell backward in surprise. "Ow!" Having been pulled so quickly back to Earth, Sigma looked over at the person he ran into. It was a young woman with chin-length, aqua colored hair. "I-I'm so sorry!" Sigma shot up to his feet and went to help her out. He laughed nervously. "My head must've been in the clouds, I wasn't watching where I was going!"

The woman looked at him, squinting a little for a moment, "It... it's okay. Sorry, I lost my glasses, I can't see very well right now."

"Oh?" Sigma looked at her in surprise, then smiled. Finally he had found a distraction from his troubles. "Well, fear not! I'll help you find your glasses!" He posed, doing his best to show off his determination, despite her inability to see him well.

"Y-you will?" She was rather shocked by his gusto.

"Of course! I'm not doing anything else today." He bowed, "I'm Sigma of Mach Storm! I'd be happy to assist you. Where did you last have your glasses?"

She blushed some, embarrassed by his actions. "Wow, Mach Storm? Um... I'm Theta. I left my glasses at the Max cafe."

"The Max?" Sigma looked at her astonished. The Max was blocks away!

* * *

"How did you manage to wander so far away without your glasses?" Sigma and Theta finally reached the Max after a good long walk. They wandered over to an empty table to sit down. The business there was good as usual.

"It was because of my teammates, actually. I was cleaning my glasses and they started to drag me off somewhere. I dropped them and they didn't give me a chance to grab them. And then they ditched me somewhere downtown."

"Are you kidding??" Sigma frowned, annoyed at the answer. "That's horrible! I swear, some teammates just have no concern at all!" He paused to look around. "Stay right here, Theta. I'll be right back." He wandered off into the crowd, then came back a moment later handing her something. "Are these what you're looking for?"

Taking them, Theta put the glasses on, and looked across the cafe. "Yes! These are my glasses!" She turned to Sigma and shook his hand cheerfully, "Thank you, Sigma! You're a real hero!"

Blushing a little, Sigma brushed it off. "It's nothing really."

* * *

The Peace Keeping Bureau was pretty intimidating on the inside. Hop couldn't remember a time when he had felt more nervous. He'd wondered what he had been thinking pulling such a stunt. His Raynos was in need of heavy repairs and now he'd have a record! At least the questioning was over. They were pretty ruthless for peace keepers, in his humble opinion.

Gummie walked into the room, scratching his head, "Well, we're gonna letcha go, Hop. However, while I could get ya outta jail time, there's still a fine ya gotta pay." He handed the paperwork over to Hop.

"Oh..." Hop sighed, "That's understandable..."

"Also we're confiscatin' yer Zoid til ya get it paid off."

Hop whined, "Oh, my poor Raynos."

Gummie sighed, "Hey, yer gettin' off lucky. Just don't ya dare pull somethin' like that ever again! Y'hear?!"

"Yes, I'm sorry..." Hop looked over the fine papers. This was going to take a while to pay off.


End file.
